Pursuit of Happiness
by bellefatale
Summary: Since Elena's death, Damon has gone back to his evil roots as a result of the immense pain of losing her. When an intriguing new girl moves to town, will he remember that he's not the evil monster he pretends to be? Rated M for later chapters.


Amber colored liquid splashed into the bottom of a crystal cut glass, and was observed for a slight second by piercing blue eyes before being quickly swallowed without even a wince. Damon poured himself another shot of bourbon and repeated the action, dropping his head into his hand. He was alone in the dark living room of the Salvatore house, the wind blowing through the open windows making the heavy curtains billow slowly. Placing the glass heavily on the end table beside him before turning to pace around the room slowly and quietly. He turned back to the end table and poured himself another glass of bourbon, this time being more generous with the amount he poured himself. He sunk into the large armchair by the fireplace and swirled the glass around lazily in his left hand as he stared into the fire.

He was all alone. Usually he savoured any moment of solidity that he had but now was different, things were too quiet. He missed his brother Stefan. He took off to god-knows-where after Elena died last year during the tragic events of last year's Founder's Day Parade. He couldn't handle the pain of remaining in this grief stricken town, but for some reason, Damon opted to stay. He was back to being the Damon he was before Elena came along. He went back to his womanizing, boozing, and predatory ways. He killed wherever, whomever, and whenever he pleased. The fact that he was a vampire was once again his little secret. There was _no one_ left who knew.

* * *

Adriana was putting the last of her luggage in her white Range Rover as she prepared to leave her Aunt's home in Atlanta to move to a small town called Mystic Falls in Virginia. She was originally from Los Angeles, but after her mother passed away and she inherited a small fortune, she went to Atlanta to stay with her aunt before deciding to make the move to a smaller town for a fresh start. Mystic Falls caught her attention because of it's calm atmosphere and rich history. She purchased a nice house and had it furnished a week before she moved in, to make the moving process easier and less hectic. The house previously belonged to a family of three; an aunt and her teenage niece and nephew.

She said goodbye to her Aunt before getting in her vehicle and setting off for her long journey. Boy, was it going to be a long drive. She glanced at the 4 pack of Red Bull sitting on the passenger seat and then turned on the music. It was _Talk Dirty To Me _by Poison. 80's hair metal was her favorite music to listen to on a long drive. She opened the sun roof and let the sun beam down on her long, wavy honey colored hair. The cool summer breeze felt good on her tanned skin. She was anticipating finally arriving and getting settled in her new home and wondered if she would seem like a typical, superficial, L.A. girl to the other people. She hoped not.

It was quarter after 6 when she arrived. She pulled into the driveway and got out of her car. She took off her Ray Ban sunglasses and observed her new surroundings; the trees were more lush and green and the air smelled nicer as opposed to the L.A. smog and polluted air. She grabbed her Blackberry from her car and called her Aunt to let her know that she had arrived safely and in one piece. Once she had all of her bags inside, she wandered into her new living room which had a slight smell of paint from having it changed from olive green to a deep reddish-purple. She let out a sigh as she collapsed into the large cream colored suede sectional. She had a good feeling about this place and this town. Before she knew it, she was drifting off to sleep.

* * *

It was almost 10 o'clock and Damon was sitting alone at the bar at Mystic Grill. He looked down at his almost empty glass of bourbon. It seemed that all he did these days was drown his sorrows and kill and feed on innocent people; anything to get his mind off of Elena. Sure, he enjoyed the occasional sorority girl or desperate housewife cougar but nothing could replace the emptiness he felt inside. No amount of liquor, blood, or meaningless sex.

"Another drink there, Damon?" he blankly nodded and the bartender poured more bourbon into the glass.

Just as he was about to raise the glass to his lips, he heard the clicking of stilettos on the wood floor. He expected it to be one of the local girls so he didn't bother to turn and look. A couple seconds later he saw a young woman sit a few seats down from him at the bar. She was definitely not a townie. She smelled…different. Not just her perfume, which was Dolce & Gabbana, but her whole essence smelled different. She had tanned skin, almost golden and her honey colored hair was long and wavy. He looked her up and down; she was dressed in dark wash True Religion cut offs, a black embellished tank top and nude colored patent platform pumps. Her outfit was simple, yet _sexy_. She had no jewelery on, except a few rings on her fingers; two cocktail rings adorned with turquoise stones, and the third ring on the middle finger of her left hand was a simple, albeit expensive looking flower shaped diamond ring.

He silently debated whether or not he should offer to buy her a drink. He wanted to feed off of her, but he wanted to make a game of it. He had become bored with life and compelling everyone he fed off of. He needed a challenge. Since she clearly wasn't from around here, he decided it would be fun to seduce her, gain her trust, and maybe she would offer her blood to him without him having to compel her. Yep, that was his plan. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she sipped the last bit of her Corona. When her golden hazel eyes met his, he flashed her his infamous smirk and raised his glass to her, only to notice that it was empty. Upon seeing that, she giggled and shook her head. He got up and took a seat closer to her.

"May I buy you a drink?" he asked as he waved the bartender over.

She nodded in agreement. He noticed her cheeks becoming flushed. She was blushing. This was good. He was barely even trying yet and she still fell for his natural charm and good looks. He had that affect on most girls but it hadn't been genuine like this in awhile. The bartender set two Coronas with limes in front of them.

"Cheers" he said, raising his bottle to hers.

"Cheers!" she replied sounding a bit more bubbly than she had intended. She was fond of the fact that the first person she met here in Mystic Falls happened to be extremely good looking. His eyes were an intense icy blue and she had a hard time looking away. His raven coloured hair was carefully tousled and he didn't look to be much older than herself, probably no older than about 24.

"So…do you have a name?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, it's Adriana. Adriana Harris. I just moved here from L.A., well technically Atlanta, but L.A.'s my real home" she took a sip of her beer, which seemed to be disappearing quickly.

"L.A. huh? I sensed that you weren't from around here," he grabbed her left hand and she slightly shivered at his touch, "I'm Damon Salvatore…very nice to meet you" he remained eye contact as he kissed her hand lightly. She blushed again. She was definitely succumbing to his irresistible charm.

After many more drinks and lots of small talk, Adriana decided it was time to leave. She stood up and slightly wobbled. _These heels were definitely a bad idea, _she thought to herself as she put her hand on the bar to steady herself.

"You gonna be okay to drive?" Damon asked as he put his hand on her waist. Usually she'd be creeped out by a guy she barely knew touching her there, but she was drunk and he was devilishly handsome.

She nodded and let him walk her outside to her car. _Shit, I can't let her go just yet, _he thought to himself as she was about to get into the driver's seat. "Wait, on second thought, I don't think it's a good idea for you to drive. May I?" he asked as he tried to grab her keys from her.

She hesitated for a minute before giving him a shy smile and handing over the keys. He opened the passenger door for her and helped her inside. When she told him her address, his jaw tightened. Elena's house. The house she used to live in with Jenna and Jeremy. He had almost forgotten that they had moved a few months ago. He blinked and continued to drive the short distance there.

"Well here we are" Adriana said, breaking the silence. Damon looked over at her. She looked delicious with the moonlight beaming down through the sun roof. He walked her to the door and upon doing so, he realized that he could no longer walk in whenever he pleased. Sure, he'd been invited in this house before, but someone new was living there now. He'd have to be invited in all over again. _Damn._

"Thank you…for the drinks. And for driving me home" she said as she unlocked the large oak front door, "I'd invite you in, but I just moved in today and I have yet to unpack all of my stuff. It's still a bit of a mess in there."

"My pleasure, Adriana," he bent and kissed her hand, "Good night."

* * *

Damon took off his black leather jacket and white t-shirt and crashed down onto his luxurious king sized bed. He didn't even bother to kick off his boots or take off his pants. He just layed there on his back, staring up at the ceiling. What was wrong with him. He could have easily just taken her right there and fed on her. She was drunk and they were _alone_ in her car, _alone_ in front of her house. He didn't even try to get her to invite him in. He thought he had reverted back into the monster he was before, but if he truly had, he would have killed Adriana. But he didn't and he couldn't wrap his mind about why he didn't. Sure, her beauty and allure had something to do with it, but plenty of his victims were beautiful and alluring. There was something about Adriana that intrigued him. Maybe he didn't have to kill her. _I'll just seduce her to the point where she offers herself to me_…he closed his eyes and smirked at the thought. His own personal little blood supply.


End file.
